Matius 3:6

3:6 and he was baptizing them ¹  in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Markus 1:4

1:4 In the wilderness ²  John the baptizer ³  began preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴ 

¹ tn Grk “they were being baptized by him.” The passive construction has been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.

² tn Or “desert.”

³ tn While Matthew and Luke consistently use the noun βαπτίστης (baptisths, “[the] Baptist”) to refer to John, as a kind of a title, Mark prefers the substantival participle ὁ βαπτίζων (Jo baptizwn, “the one who baptizes, the baptizer”) to describe him (only twice does he use the noun [Mark 6:25; 8:28]).

⁴ sn A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was a call for preparation for the arrival of the Lord’s salvation. To participate in this baptism was a recognition of the need for God’s forgiveness with a sense that one needed to live differently as a response to it.